In clinical and forensic evaluations, clinical neuropsychologists measure performance validity using standalone and embedded measures. Given the need to capture neuropsychological functioning through a variety of cognitive tests, newer, more sensitive measures should be evaluated for their utility in comparison to already established measures.…

The present dissertation reports two experiments that investigate the processing of English wh-dependencies by including language-specific (experiment I) and domain-general (experiment II) factors. We looked into both event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and time-frequency representations (TFRs) of the EEG signal so as to obtain a more thorough…

Increasingly, educators seek to teach and assess historical thinking. In the post-secondary environment, historical thinking skills are typically taught alongside historical fact, however there is a paucity of research on the relationship between historical thinking skills and knowledge of historical fact. The purpose of this study was to…

Previous research has found mixed results for a link between executive function and perspective-taking. One proposed reason for this is that perspective-taking during comprehension tasks may not be internally reliable. This dissertation presents two large individual differences experiments with multiple perspective-taking during comprehension and…

A high-quality, foundational education offers lifelong benefits for young children. The problem is that working memory in pre-school-aged children is declining and could be impaired by the extraneous cognitive load imposed during engagement with screen media apps and/or preschool programs. Although the pedagogical practices associated with…

The current study aims to contribute to the literature supporting better understanding cognitive functions, namely working memory and verbal fluency, in undergraduate pre-lingual deaf sign language users. It is important to understand the specific nuances of cognition in deaf sign language users, as the interplay between working memory and verbal…

Scalar implicatures (SIs) lie at the interface between semantics and pragmatics, and therefore have evoked great interest for language acquisition research. Many acquisition studies show that young children know the literal semantics of scalar items (like "some", "might", "start" and "or") but have…

Executive function is deficient in individuals with ADHD. Playing a musical instrument has been shown to improve executive functions. This study examined if participants with ADHD perceived a connection between playing an instrument in a music ensemble and improved executive functioning, as well as improved ADHD presentations. The research design…

"How can teachers help students improve their second language (L2) speaking accuracy?" This is a question that most L2 educators ask themselves every day. Although L2 writing is a popular topic among Second Language Acquisition (SLA) researchers, the consideration that L2 writing has the potential to act as a scaffold for L2 speaking…

Children and adult learners benefit from viewing hand gestures at instruction across domains (Cook, Duffy, & Fenn, 2013; Huang, Kim, & Christianson, 2019; Ping & Goldin-Meadow, 2008). Within the domain of mathematical learning, gesture at instruction has been shown to benefit children and adults in laboratory and classroom settings…

This study investigated the effects of WML and automaticity on mental addition through an examination of both task and individual characteristics within the framework of cognitive load theory. Seventy-three fourth-grade students in New York City public schools completed the Digit Span-Backward task of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for…

Executive function (EF) is a term used to describe the processes responsible for purposeful, goal-directed behavior and has been described as the "air traffic controller" or "CEO" of the brain. EFs are an important factor in overall quality of life, including school and job success. EFs are measured predominately through two…

Technology can improve the educational experience of college students but also serves as a distraction both for students and those around them. This study applied marginal value theorem to the problem of cell phone use in the college classroom. 144 college students were placed in a simulated classroom and their technology use was observed and the…

Despite the importance of rehearsal to most models of verbal working memory, its role has been recently called into question. Much prior work in support of rehearsal models has centered on the experimental effects of word-length, phonological-similarity, and irrelevant sound on serial order recall performance and the interaction of all three with…

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of executive function (EF) skills (i.e., working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibition) in supporting the development of reading fluency in elementary school students with dyslexia. Participants were 47 students (i.e., second to sixth grade) attending a private school in the Mid-South…